Rating Jarryd Hayne’s Return To The National Rugby League

Jarryd Hayne made his long awaited return to the National Rugby League today with a very good performance in his sides 24-14 loss to the New Zealand Warriors.

This was a fantastic game of Rugby League, one of the more exciting games of the season, and the Warriors really turned it on when it mattered to get a vital two points that will help with their push towards playing finals football.

All eyes were on Hayne though, and he came into the game after about 25 minutes, playing out in the centers. His first involvement in the match was a big ball and all tackle on his line, and from there all the signs just got better and better.

Hayne get himself involved in the match immediately, flying high and catching a bomb just out from the Warriors line, and almost setting up a try after offloading the ball.

As they game went on Hayne get even more involved in the game, getting more of the ball in his hands and going in field looking to do some play-making.

In the last 20 minutes of the match you could see that Hayne’s Rugby League instincts were really kicking in. He was taking on the line and pushing that no look offload, directing traffic, getting into good position for kicks, and you could see the Warriors started to have to react more and more with what Hayne was doing on and off the ball.

The one blip in his game today was an intercept he gave away that led directly to a try. Still, he wasn’t the only Titans player to give away a bad intercept, and there is no doubt Hayne added to the Titans attack in a huge way.

I’d say that Hayne’s return to the game was far better than other players that have left the NRL only to return. I’d personally give him a very solid 8/10 on his performance.

It was great to see Jarryd Hayne back on an NRL field. That it was in such an exciting game made it all the more exciting.

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